Rarely has there been a situation in which siblings each figure to be top-five prospects in separate drafts like LaMelo and Lonzo Ball. Lonzo was selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft while LaMelo is set to be one of the first names called in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Despite being top prospects in the same family, the two are different players and, surprisingly, LaMelo has drawn limited comparisons to Lonzo. The two are very different players, which shouldn’t be all that surprising considering they spent much of their life playing alongside one another.
In Brian Windhorst’s latest Hoop Collective podcast, he welcomed DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz to discuss the upcoming draft and, namely, the top three picks. When discussing LaMelo and his shooting woes last season, Schmitz noted one big difference between he and Lonzo.
“I think the difference between him and Lonzo is that this kid has never-ending confidence. He’s not afraid of anything whereas that’s what Lonzo kind of had to work through and then in LA, (he) wasn’t shooting it well, teams were going under screens, weren’t respecting him and then he wasn’t really looking at the rim. He’s still working his way back there but LaMelo is an incredibly confident kid.”
LaMelo and Lonzo could hardly be more different offensively. Whereas Lonzo is hesitant to shoot much of his time on the court and has to often be persuaded to do so, LaMelo has the brightest of green lights in his own mind.
As Schmitz notes, LaMelo’s low shooting percentage figures are attributed more to his shot selection than his shooting form, though the latter will certainly need some changes.